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If Prop. F fails, LaPointe said, "it would certainly mean the demolition of an historic landmark."

The 63-year-old monument was first threatened in August 1996 when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court ruled The City was violating the California Constitution by keeping the cross in a municipal park, in effect showing preference for one religion over others.

To keep the cross in place, the supervisors and Mayor Brown decided to sell the site.

The Armenian American group wants to preserve the cross as a publicly accessible war memorial to dead Armenians. That theme has spawned a new group of measure opponents.

The Federation of Turkish American Associations says the memorial would slander Turks, linking them to the World War I-era genocide of Armenians. The Turkish group claims that is "a subject of serious contention and historical dispute."

Also challenging the measure is a group of atheists that has gone to court in a so far unsuccessful effort to prevent the proposition from going to a vote.

The San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, a previous opponent of the deal, has apparently joined Prop. F's backers. Satisfied that the cross would be removed from public park land, Nathaniel Schmelzer and Ernest Weiner, the president and executive director of the chapter, have written in the voters' handbook that transfer of ownership "preserves a cultural and historical icon in a sensitive and legal way in a city that prides itself on its tolerance. . . . The American Jewish Committee urges (voters) to ensure that future generations will have the opportunity to see this significant landmark."

In January the board voted to designate the Mount Davidson cross as a city landmark, a decision that still awaits ratification by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors. Landmark status means that any demolition proposal can be delayed for up to one year.

In supporting their decision that the cross should be preserved on its site, Landmarks Board members noted that the cross:

*Was dedicated in 1934 by President Franklin Roosevelt who pressed a button in Washington, D.C., illuminating it for the first time.

*Has been a familiar hilltop landmark to generations of San Franciscans and is a principal feature in maintaining the character of its West of Twin Peaks neighborhood.

*Holds a height record. At 103 feet, it's the tallest cross in North and South America, according to city records.

*Contains, in its base, stones from the Garden of Gethsemane as well as a transcript of the title to Mount Davidson signed by the first Mexican governor of California.

"Passage of Proposition F will assure that the Mount Davidson Park will be kept safe and open for everybody's use," said John Whitehurst, who manages the campaign for its passage.&lt;